desire and love
The film "Flesh and Spirit" (Teströl és lélekröl 2017) ostensibly tells the story of "Dream Deer Love", but it is actually an attempt to answer the old philosophical question: how should we look at "lust" and "love" in human nature? Generally speaking, "desire" resides in the body and is the instinct of all animals; while "love" involves the human spirit and soul and is unique to human nature. Which of the two is more important, or equally important, is originally a matter of "the benevolent sees benevolence, and the wise sees wisdom", so what about a movie? Next, let's discuss it.
1. About "desire" without "love"
There seems to be a lack of love in human nature. The head of personnel at the slaughterhouse is a strange being. He created the "Mating Fan Incident", originally to frame the new employee Sando in order to drive him away, but inadvertently activated the "Dream Deer Love" between the male and female protagonists. The reason why he was so despicable was apparently because Sando attracted all the female workers in the factory, including his wife, which made him feel uneasy; in fact, he knew that his wife had cheated on half of the male workers in the factory. Including the male protagonist, why is he so furious when she cheated on Sang Duo this time? Could it be that he has endured his wife's infidelity in the past, and only now can't bear it anymore? I don't think so. It is possible that he was cowardly and obeyed in front of his wife, but I believe that he, like his wife, has never been loyal to her. Just because they are each other, the marriage can maintain the surface peace. It's just that Sando this time seems to be too attractive, attracting most female workers, thus breaking the "mutual" balance between him and his wife, because it is difficult for him to attract sexual partners. If this speculation is correct, does the film try to show that love and lust can exist independently; even without love, lust can, to a certain extent, be the foundation of a stable marriage?
The breaking of the balance of desires will certainly make this HR manager anxious, but what really drives him crazy is another reason. In fact, if we carefully analyze his wife's behavior, we can vaguely feel that his wife is no longer frequently "throwing her husband away" just because of "desire", because "frequent" often indicates the stability of sexual partners , and this kind of "stability" is hardly just because of "desire". Just because the HR director felt that his wife had "love" for others, then the next step would be to reorganize the family if the wife left him and the children. Therefore, he created the "mating powder incident", which attracted the investigation of the police. As the head of personnel, of course, he has to assist in the investigation, so that his wife has no reason not to take care of the children, and can not go out frequently on dates. Whether his wife is dating the Sandor or not, at least he's stagnating the family from falling apart. In fact, seeing how concerned Sando is with the police investigation, and how hesitantly acted during the police and psychiatrist investigations, we can probably be certain that he is the "date." In addition to the scene where the male protagonist apologized to Sando and proposed a drink after the incident, it is also certain that although Sando was not the direct maker of the "mating powder incident", he was indeed related to it, and even said that he was the initiator of the whole incident It's not an exaggeration, so the male protagonist should invite him for a drink not only as an apology, but also as a warning or a friendly reminder. Although the wife was still looking for a reason to go out later, but being able to eat together can be regarded as a change in their relationship. Even if she is not going out this time to end it, it can also imply that there is always a crisis in a loveless marriage. .
Although the male protagonist is over middle-aged, according to his self-report, he has also dated many women. Even if he is rejected by a woman, he does not feel ashamed, because intercourse without love is just a show, but he is tortured by love. Later, after he made a confession that he didn't want to force the heroine, he wanted to find a female worker he had been with to relieve his loneliness, but he took the initiative to stop venting his desires. This seems to mean that love and desire are inseparable.
The above analysis seems to be able to sum up like this: there may be a desire for love or not in human nature, but once there is love, the object of love and desire must be one.
2. About "love" without "desire"
Real human needs can be seen in extreme situations. The female protagonist is almost a social insulator, and her mentality is almost a child. Neither she has any desires for men nor men to her; It is also difficult for us to associate him with "desire". Although he can "attract" female employees by virtue of his identity, anyone with a discerning eye will know what is going on. With such a "no desire" character setting, the director's intention is very obvious, that is, to see if "love" is still possible in this extreme situation. Just because they could meet in a dream, they really fell in love in reality. From this, we can see that the production of "love" does not presuppose the existence of "desire".
So, what is "love" needed for? We can see from some details in the film that "love" is due to the loneliness of human nature. The existence of society can eliminate part of "loneliness", but the real loneliness is when people are alone. If someone can help you relieve this loneliness, it is definitely when your love arises. Even a heroine who is a social insulator, when someone can chat with her and play cards, she can show a moving smile; when she can no longer meet her lover in her dreams, that kind of loss, pain, despair, and even want to die, we are Totally understandable. Although the male protagonist is mature and prudent, the more experienced people are, the more they can appreciate the warmth and warmth of human relationships and the sadness of society, and the more lonely they will feel. In the "mating powder incident", he had to face the greedy police, because the steak was a gift once and a bribe was asked for the second time; he quit smoking four years ago, but his daughter didn't even know it, and only thought of him as a father when he wanted money. From this, we can imagine that the male protagonist is only a cold world around him. When someone can accompany him in a dream, even if it is a deer to meet, for him, it must be a joy in life.
Although "love" can exist independently of "desire", it seems that love without desire cannot last long. This can be seen from their dissatisfaction with the "beautiful" after copulation in their dreams. Setting "love" in a dream is nothing more than trying to show that "love" is pure and without the slightest desire for profit, but what is the result? Even the heroine who knows nothing about emotional experience is working hard to change herself to ensure that the "beautiful" in the dream can be continued in reality. Once it cannot be realized, the "love" in the dream will be meaningless to her. Similarly, the male protagonist also wants the "love" in his dreams to continue into reality. Step by step, he wanted to guide the heroine out of the dream. When he misunderstood the female protagonist's barriers to communication, he wanted to end everything. Even if I make coffee and stay up late, I don't want to fall into the dream again.
Fortunately, everyone seems to be willing to bless them and fulfill "love". Therefore, when the two of them ate together, the people who ate behind her all left with their plates, obviously not wanting to disturb them; seeing the hostess staring at the mirror for a long time, the old cleaning lady Willing to guide her. Therefore, in such a good environment, they only need a little effort on their own, and the dream will naturally become a reality. (Text/Slate Planting Flowers Sunday, November 26, 2017)
PS. Thanks for the Chinese subtitles of this film!
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